D-Day, WWII book topic of discussion on eve of 70th anniversary

On the eve of the 70th anniversary of D-Day, a book about the historic event and the conclusion of World War II will be subject of a discussion in Shelby Township.

Macomb County Judge Mark Switalski will talk about, “The Guns at Last Light. The War in Western Europe,” by Richard Atkinson, at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at the Barnes & Noble store on Hall Road, at a meeting of the Macomb County Bar Foundation’s History Book of the Month Club. The Michigan Military Technical Historical Society is co-sponsoring the event.

The No. 1 New York Times best seller is the third book in Atkinson’s “Liberation Trilogy.”

“The topic is particularly timely,” Steinhardt said. “The airborne troops landed the night of June 5 and 6, while the beach landings occurred the morning of June 6.”

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Private First Class Doug Harvey of Sterling Heights will also discuss his wartime experiences. Harvey landed on Omaha Beach in France in November 1944, five months after the invasion, said event organizer attorney Steve Steinhardt. Harvey earned three battle stars for his service in the Rhineland Campaign, the Ardennes and central Europe.

Switalski, who oversees the circuit Veterans Treatment Court, will also discuss the importance of remembering and honoring the men and women who fought in all of the nation’s wars, Steinhardt said.

Chris Causley of the Michigan Military Historical Society will speak briefly. He is director of a WWII and military museum in Eastpointe.

The first book in the trilogy, “An Army at Dawn” (2002), about WWII in North Africa, won a Pulitzer Prize for history. The second book, “The Day of Battle” (2007) described the war in Sicily and Italy. The final volume, published in 2013 by Henry Holt & Co., starts with D-Day and ends with the formal German surrender at Reims in May 1945.

The event, expected to end about 9 p.m., is free and open to the public. Barnes & Noble is located at 14165 Hall Road.